Customer Reviews

Wine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At 960 pages, this book is on par with the Oxford Companion to Wine in terms of the sheer volume of information presented. However, because it is structured like a textbook instead of an encyclopedic reference, it is better for people who want to spend some time reading and learning about wine, as opposed to quickly looking up the definition to any wine term imaginable.

Like most other Konemann books that I've seen, it's filled with 1000's of beautiful color photos, and is an amazing value.... It starts with 150 pages about the history of wine, viticulture and winemaking, then goes into detailed country-by-country analyses of wine regions, local histories, geography, geology, climate, grapes, regulations, wine styles and notable producers. It even goes so far as to show labels and give Robert Parker-style star ratings to producers. The maps are especially good.

I agree with other reviewers that it is very Euro-centric. There are as many pages devoted to German-speaking countries as there are to the Americas and Australia combined. There are even 44 pages on South Africa versus 24 on California. (Even so, it has much better maps of the California AVA's than the Oxford Companion.) It almost seems as if they tacked 100 extra pages onto an excellent book called "European Wine" and changed the title so it would sell better in the US. A supplementary book on new world wines would be useful.

As for being pretensious, well, I think the book is targeted at educated adults.... It starts with the basics and presents a huge amount of information in a clear, logical manner that is appropriate for an intelligent reader with little or no wine background. I also have the Oxford Companion to Wine, Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America, and the CIA's Exploring Wine, and I find myself reading Konemann's the most because of the well-organized format, the depth of information, and the excellent maps and photos.

Talk about a TOME! Weighing in at almost 1000 massive pages, this isn't just a coffee table book, it's a dining room table book. Its large format and wealth of pages ensures that just about every topic you could be interested in will be well covered here. Not only are there articles and descriptions, but there are also full color photos, well done maps, diagrams, and graphs as well.

The first set of pages talk about wine in general - how it's made, its history, its colors and scents. Then the book dives head-first into the main wine regions. It begins with and dedicates hundreds of pages to France. Every area gets the royal treatment, from the Loire Valley to Champagne to the Rhone. Want to know what the Crus are, or what Chablis is all about? The pictures of the vineyards and maps of the climate help bring the explanations to life.

Soon we move on to other European regions - Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal. Eastern Europe, South Africa, and even Asia get their due. However, despite this English edition being released in 2001, there were hardly any pages at all on North America, South America, and Australia and New Zealand! These wine regions are very prolific, create many high quality wines, and yet are glossed over. Maybe they simply ran out of binding and couldn't fit in any more pages without going to a second volume. Hopefully this is something they can remedy in the near future.

Even so, this is incredibly fun reading for all levels of wine drinkers. The maps and graphics make it easy for newcomers to understand, while the in depth information ensures that even the most experienced of wine drinkers will find something new and fascinating within its pages.

Domine's _Wine_ is a fabulous resource for finding information about wines, wine regions, and wine history that is not commonly found in most wine books. As an example, I have recently purchased wines from Roero (in Piedmont) and Minervois (in the Languedoc). Only in Domine's book could I find detailed information about these styles of wine, including the grapes used, the expected characteristics of the wine, etc., as well as the relationship of these regions to other wine growing areas. For every conceivable wine, Domine devotes at least a paragraph or two.

However, while the book is an incredibly useful resource, and the pictures are spectacular, I would certainly not recommend the book for a wine novice, contrary to the publisher's suggestion. The book is hard to read and lacks fluidity, perhaps because it suffers in translation. Also, for the wine novice the information would be simply too overwhelming. Fortunately, I cut my teeth on wine with _Wine for Dummies_, and have since expanded my library on the subject to include _Great Wine Made Simple_ and other books that give an easy-to-follow yet detailed introduction to wine. I would advise picking up Domine's Wine only after achieving a certain comfort level with wine and feeling free to be more adventurous with it.

One last comment I must make about the book is that Domine seems to give American wine short shrift, as if he really looks down his nose at American winemaking. Compare the portion of the book devoted to American wine relative to France or Italy, and the bias seems obvious. Granted, American wine still has a way to go before it is truly on par with classic old world wines (at least in my opinion), but it seems there is more written on the Languedoc alone in France than on all of California wine. Given the dramatic impact California wine has had on the international palate and winemaking styles the world over, more attention must be paid it. Perhaps so little is said because California wine cannot be readily broken down geographically as can European wine, but perhaps a better approach for the New World, California in particular, might have been to organize by varietal, and then compare and contrast the varietals from different regions. Particularly since the real world of wine is organized this way (i.e., Old World by geography, New World by varietal), I think the book should have followed suit.

These objections aside, I think the book is a great resource, and it sure looks nice on my coffee table!

This is a wonderful book, both in terms of visual and aesthetic appeal, and from the substantive aspect. It is not for the casual wine drinker who desires a five minute introduction to oenology/ wine-tasting, or for the dilettante who suddenly discovers that wine drinking is chic, especially in the post-'Sideways' world. (IMHO- Sideways was a great film, but I digress) This is a large-format book that really demands to be read, in detail, and over a period of months, or even years. The language is good, and the text has a flowing, easy-to-read style. There is even a glossary at the end of the book. I disagree with one of the other reviewers about the poor translation.
The authors have taken great pains to describe the various wine growing areas, the concept of terroir, wine making techniques, grape varieties/varietals, and wine-food pairings. A very useful feature is the listing, under each wine growing region, of the most prominent producers of those wines. Obviously, the book focuses more on French wines, since, in my opinion, France is the mothership whence all wines emerged. However, the book does equal justice to other areas/ countries, like Germany & Italy and also has a detailed section on New World wines, including some glowing tributes to certain American & Australian wines.
The book is at least as good as 'The Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine', which is a classic, with the added benefit of stunning pictures, for those readers who wish to have a lavishly illustrated tome. But please do not buy this merely as a coffee-table adornement, since that would detract from the purpose of this magnificent book.

I choose to disagree with those who say that this book is not for novices. Domine turns wine from an enjoyable beverage into a complex puzzle that can be solved with knowledge and experience. His article on tasting wine, rather than a dryly-written procedural manual, invites the reader to share in the solving of a mystery with every new bottle. Domine obviously loves wine and writes on the subject in a way that allows the reader to understand the reasons for that love and to join in the affair.

The book is obviously Euro-centric, but the knowledge to be gained through this book is immense. If you spend serious time with this book you will be transformed.

I agree with the other reviewers - it is NOT a book for the layman. However, being fairly new to wine myself this book has been invaluable. It opened my eyes to the history and process that is required to produce such a seemingly simple alcholic product - with more answers than I had questions to.
At 926 pages (5th Edition), this book explains everything from how the barrels, corks and wine are created, details the many varieties of grapes, what wine to drink with which foods and at what temperature to serve it - all in precise detail through thousands of beautiful color photos, maps and images.
Amazing book in all- but I have to agree that it does not cover wines outside Europe (ie: America) very well. I believe the reason for this is that it's a German Book translated to English, so their will naturally be bais from the writer. Another reason is bias towards the history of European Wines - ie: Greek White Wines from the Assyrtiko Grape are reputed to be a 2000+ year old strain which has NEVER been grafted onto American Rootstocks (from Santorini Island). American wine can never match a history like that!
Again - the focus is as one reviewer basically put it "A book on European Wine, with a few pages inserted in about America (& Japan, China, etc) and the titled changed". If they are going to call it "Wine" - they should include EVERY major producer around the world as indepth as the next - or change the title. Maybe they will in the next (6th?) Edition!
I personally am a little baised though; I live in Germany and only read about the countries I travel to and drink wine from - which has not been the US in awhile. I love the taste and history of European Wines - and this book details everything I wanted to know.
After reading the chapter on Greek Wines during my trip to Greece last week, I was able to hold a conversation about the Phyylloxera epidemic that never affected the Greek Islands, the type of Grape used in the Organic Winery's Wines, the vinyard history of the area and the unique methods they grow the vines under. The Owner's wife and Business Partner was amazed by my knowledge (not the common tourist) - while my girlfriend was baffled...though in her defense she could care less (shame...I know!).

Worth every penny for a serious wine drinker who wants to truly learn more about their new found love in life!

Prost!!

This is a big book. If you don't get to read it, you can always use it as an occasional table!

If you want a book that is bound to impress through size alone, this is it! With this on your coffee table no one will ever doubt your wine credentials.

And if you do choose to open the book up you will find it stuffed full of gorgeous photographs and illustrations. Interspersed with these is a wealth of information about wine. How to grow and make it, how to buy it, how to drink and enjoy it, and how to impress your friends by boring them to death with all this information.

So now I am off to pick myself up a naughty little teasing Australian, something young and stroppy, brimming with cherries, firm on the tongue and full bodied, with aromas of rose and dark chocolate. If she's in the mood we might share a bottle of plonk together over dinner, and then who knows............

The content of this book can be put: Everything you wanted to know about wine, but didn't know to ask. The book provides more information and answers more questions about wine than any one person could know there was to the subject. All of this content is made accessible for reference or for absorption for ones whose interest in wine is at this level by a well-organized, detailed Contents as well as the four indexes and glossary. The content is organized by countries with regions within these, including European countries, Australia and New Zealand, and South and North America. Introductory chapters cover the general topics of choosing, storing, and tasting wine, using wine in entertaining, and terroir, climate, and growing grape vines as a framework for the detailed and in parts specialized material of the following sections concentrating on wines according to geographical areas.

The chapter on the wines of Italy serves as an example of the organization and content of all of the geographical chapters. History and background of the country's wines is accompanied by a detailed color map indicating the wine-growing regions. With Italy, there are 22 of these. This introductory part of each chapter alone provides interesting, useful, and colorful material beyond what all but wine experts are likely to know. The chapter then goes on to cover each particular region and its wines making use of maps, tables, and photographs to enhance the text. With some of the regions, there are tables of varying sizes calling attention to particular wines or producers by annotated entries and pictures of wine labels.

The encyclopedic, comprehensive, authoritative work goes far beyond what one can learn about wine in newspaper wine columns, mass-market wine periodicals, and even many books on wine. Such columns, etc., are in fact usually limited and repetitious--whereas this work while necessarily relating some standard, familiar material, presents abundant material going deeper into the subject of wine. The work's chapters on the countries from all parts of the world are as good and better than most wine books on such country's and regions.

In short for this voluminous book, it makes an ideal, incomparable gift, advanced course on wine, or reference for anyone interested in this alluring field involving history, human appetite, international commerce, agriculture, and other subjects.

This is a great book for studying about wine. The maps are some of the most detailed I have ever seen.

This book if a complete book for Wine lovers!
It start from the history of wine to modern times!
It explains the right choice,wine tasting,smell and color of wine,Then it follows in detail about wine cellar,serving temperature,decanting wine,which glass for which wine and last the art of enjoying wine!

The book will not be a complete Wine book without telling us about vineyard all over the world and its brand!

It is highly recommended for all wine lovers and also for the beginners!